Cyber ​​Heroes

Chapter 105 Custom Language and Culture

"I can say that our ancestors never died. The spark of their souls is thinking in our brains through daily language habits. Language and culture have always connected us to our ancestors. This connection is always stronger than Blood is stronger."

When Ingrid said this, it was a day in February 2029.

Xiang Shan just finished his vacation and came back from Peiping.He was holding a tablet in his hand and was checking the news.

Due to the gradual reduction of the security level of the "Special Rama Project", some electronic equipment can already be brought into the park.Xiang Shan did not specifically subscribe to news, but the current chat software has its own news pop-up window.He occasionally glanced at it.

In the corner of the office area, Ingrid and Kanbara were chatting with Yawgmoth.

Yawgmoth came here to ask questions about "Chinese".

"Hey, friends from the Republic over there?" Ingrid picked up a small ball of paper and threw it over: "This man is here to learn your mother tongue, don't you want to say a few words?"

Xiang Shan turned his attention away from the news article titled "The Republic is running in many ways to promote the establishment of the Pacific Rim Agricultural Community" and raised his hands: "Sorry, I am an engineering student. Inga [Inga, Ingrid] De Ingrid's nickname] Your level of this language is much higher than mine. I am very unprofessional in this field."

Due to a joint project currently underway, a group of linguists, including Ingrid, simply opened an office area in the Engineering Research Center to study "something" together.

Yawgmoth is learning Chinese by himself in his spare time.Although the misunderstanding has long been resolved, according to Yawgmoth himself, learning this language was not because of Xiang Shan's joke last year.He did have such an idea.

It should be said that he thought so many years ago.But it was busy at the time.

And now, surrounded by a group of colleagues who are native speakers of the language and some of the best linguists in the world - why not take the opportunity?

Since a year ago, he, Shen Yuanzun, and Xiang Shan became the first batch of scholars who came into contact with "Ogun", so he also has a little reputation in the scholar community.This seemed to open up Yawgmoth's social circle.

Of course, this is the same for Xiangshan.

And Ingrid had always been generous.

But Yawgmoth was still very distressed: "I feel that my learning efficiency is too low. Although I have memorized many articles, I still feel that I can't use this language freely."

Ingrid shrugged: "This is indeed a very difficult question, Yog. Do you know that there are many second language learners who cannot use this second language as proficiently as their mother tongue throughout their lives , and some learners can do this very easily."

"It's a pity that there is still no convincing statistical survey that can point out the proportion of these two types of people in the population."

Speaking of this, Ingrid felt a little regretful: "This is really a pity. To be honest, there are really very few funds available in this field."

Kanbara seemed to be touched and hurt: "The travel expenses for fieldwork will never be enough..."

Linguistics is really the legendary "noble profession".The investment is high, the output is low, and the family has no capital to waste.

Instead of following the two linguists, Yawgmoth wondered: "Is this difference caused by some kind of genetic expression? Is there evidence that this 'second language acquisition ability' is heritable? "

Ingrid shrugged: "This is a question worthy of research, but you have to apply for funding."

Xiang Shan closed the news window and raised his head again: "But not everyone needs a second language now..."

"No, the ultimate goal of our research on the process of second language acquisition is to deduce how the 'first language' and 'native language' are acquired by us. It ultimately solves the problem of the mechanism of 'language acquisition' itself. "

"From a purely linguistic point of view, it pursues 'Universal Grammar'. From a neuroscience point of view, it explores the brain's mechanism of information input, storage and processing. From a cultural point of view, it explores It includes the interaction between people and social culture."

Ingrid took a sip of her tea.

Shen Yuanzun said: "But I still reserve my opinion on this point. I have investigated many ancient languages ​​in Africa, the origin of human beings. I can't feel what you said about 'universal' languages ​​from the process of learning these languages. Grammar'. There's always something about their language that you can't imagine."

"Personal opinion." Ingrid raised her eyebrows: "Do you have any recommended papers? Takeru-kun [タケル, the pronunciation of "zun"]"

Yawgmoth mused: "I thought the 'Universal Grammar' thing should be obvious."

Shen Yuanzun was a little different: "What do you think?"

"Hmm... For example, in all languages ​​in the world, the pronunciation of 'mother' contains the sound 'ma'?"

Kanbara-zun was taken aback for a moment, then turned around, his shoulders trembling twice.

Should be laughing.

Ingrid also frowned her beautiful eyebrows and shook her head: "Yog, this is not 'Universal Grammar'. And it's a misunderstanding."

"Really?" Yawgmoth was very surprised.

"There are only a few sounds that a baby can easily make. There are only a few sounds like 'ma''ba''pa''mu''i''o'. Of course, the voice of a baby calling its parents comes from these few sounds. A combination of two sounds. Babies' pronunciation is characterized by nasal consonants m, n or stop p, b, t, d plus vowel a." Ingrid said: "In Georgia, the word 'mama' is used They call their father. In the north of the Republic, there are also ethnic minorities who call their fathers with the pronunciation of 'ama'. There are also many ethnic groups who use words pronounced 'ba' and 'da' to call their mothers."

Shen Yuanzhen nodded, indicating that it is indeed the case: "It is indeed a narrow prejudice to think that all languages ​​​​in the world use 'ma' to address mothers-it should be said that the mechanism of 'universal grammar' that Ingrid mentioned , It’s closer to ‘Why do humans form these pronunciations into the vocabulary of father and mother’? Of course it’s not accurate. This is a rather complicated question.”

Xiang Shan was a little curious: "We still have titles like 'mother' over there, right? It has been used for decades."

Ingrid rolled her eyes: "The back nasal vowel of 'iang' is not something that infants can pronounce at all. Your ancestors also called mother 'ma'. In ancient Chinese, the word 'Niang' is not used at all. Denoting 'mother.' The word refers to all 'women'—both young and old. Until the Song Dynasty, 'Xiao Niangzi' was a normal address for young girls."

"It's just that the word 'girl' appeared in the Yuan Dynasty, crowding out the original meaning of 'young woman' from 'mother'. So this word became a respectful title for elders or older married women."

Xiang Shan scratched his head: "The 'aunt' of the 'girl'..."

"It is very likely that it comes from Mongolian, and the pronunciation is close to 'hu hen'. The relics of this word are still preserved in Russian and some Eastern European languages." Ingrid explained: "If you have read "Liao Zhai Zhi" You should know that "Niang" still retains the meaning of "young girl" when it is used as a person's name. Japan, which has not become a Mongol-ruled area, retains this important meaning even more. whole."

Yawgmoth thought: "Is this inference too far-fetched? Are there other explanations?"

"Oh, this... let's do an experiment." Ingrid bent down, searched under the office desk, found a green folder, tore it open, and folded it into a hat.She handed the hat to Yawgmoth: "Put it on, and watch the reactions of your two friends."

Not knowing why, Yawgmoth put the hat on his head and looked up.

Xiang Shan was lying on the table with a distorted expression and his shoulders were shaking.But Shen Yuanzun didn't know why.

Yawgmoth looked this way, then there.

After a few seconds, Kanbara-son showed a sudden realization expression.

"What Xiang just thought in his mind was 'this is the relationship between these two people', 'Is Yingjia so happy behind the scenes' or 'this joke is not appropriate but it's still funny'." Ingrid Showing a playful expression: "By the way, this is just an experimental project."

Yawgmoth took off the hat on his head: "What kind of principle is this?"

"In the Yuan Empire in East Asia, male relatives of women in the custom industry were required to wear green headscarves. But the Yuan Empire was blocked by the ocean and did not bring Japan into its rule." Ingrid said: "Look, Xiang can understand in an instant that although Shen Yuan knows a little Chinese, he probably needs to think a little before he realizes what I'm doing—but at this time he probably understands what I mean by 'experiment'."

"That brutal empire—Mongolia, the iron hoof it stepped out from the [-]th to the [-]th century AD still echoes in the language today. These are the scars it brought to the world. These scars are still alive."

"Sometimes what you are thinking about is not necessarily yourself, but a set of cultural symbols, a set of narrative modes, and a set of discourse systems you have accepted. These concepts infected by 'language' are stirring in your neurons .It's them thinking."

"I can say that our ancestors never died. The spark of their souls is thinking in our brains through daily language habits. Language and culture have always connected us to our ancestors. This connection is always stronger than Blood is stronger."

Xiang Shan grinned: "This is the same as the undead."

This statement is too idealistic, and it does not suit his appetite.

"Who says it's not." Ingrid shrugged: "In Saussure's domain of the gods, we have met those long-forgotten ancestors countless times. They may be gods and heroes, or they may be undead. "

(End of this chapter)